Traditional candles are mainly used for illumination or in special occasions for enhancing atmosphere. The use of candles is easily affected and restricted by the environments as naked flame is used, for instance, the candle is easily extinguished if it is used in a strong wind environment, and naked flame combustion in a closed room consumes oxygen, produces harmful waste gases, and makes people feel discomfortable. Moreover, there are potential safety hazards such as fire disaster if the candle is loosely fixed at bottom or flammable material comes close to the flame. As a result, the traditional candles are gradually replaced by imitation candles.
With the continuous development of the electric power, the candles are less used for illumination in daily life, but currently primarily used for enhancing atmosphere. Consequently, higher requirements are demanded for the imitation or simulation of the candles.
Many imitation or simulation candles had been proposed.
Chinese utility model patent No. 201020114356.5 discloses an electronic imitation candle lamp for fete, comprising a pedestal, a candle body and a flame device, wherein a concave cavity is provided in the center of the pedestal, a battery groove is provided in the cavity for placing batteries, a shielding cover is provided at a mouth of the cavity of the pedestal for covering the whole surface of the cavity, and the center of the shielding cover is fixedly connected with the candle body, a fan is installed in an inner chamber of the candle body, the flame device that consists of a fixed board, a flame sheet and an LED light-emitting diode is arranged on an upper end of the candle body, and the LED light-emitting diode and the fan are connected with a power supply in the pedestal via wirings to form a power supply loop. The flame portion of the imitation candle as disclosed uses the flame sheet that has a high imitation and can be driven to swing by the fan.
Other mechanical candles that use air blowing device are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,425 and U.S. Pat. No. 1,824,388.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,837,355, a kinetic flame device is disclosed that includes a housing with two stages of magnetic coupling of pendulum members, and a flame silhouette element is caused to move by electromagnetic force interacting between magnets on the pendulum members.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,159,994, a mounting system is disclosed that provides a flame shaped diffuser to have a rotary motion about two axes.
There is a continuous demand for novel and or improved imitation or simulation candles.